Knitting machine



Nov. 21, 1939. J. slRMAY 2,131,105

KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 46ATTORNEYD Nov. 21, 1939. J. SIRMAY KNITTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 9, 1936 WM VM hm QM INVENTOR TTORNEYs Patented Nov. 21, 1939' j I v r 2,181,105

UNITED STATES ine'rs s 'r OFFICE.

quard Knitting Machine 06., Inc., Philadelphia, Pa... a corporation of New York Application May 9, 193$, Serial No. 18,920 i 15 Claims. (01. 66-24) My invention relates to knitting machines. suspended on a vertical post I I carried by an over- It is directed particularly to circular knitting head structure and held against rotation by a machines for knitting fabrics incorporating patdogless mechanism. As indicated by the link or tern or design eflects, and especially pattern or. arm I2, I prefer to arrange for the racking of the design effects produced by eyelets, dropped dial needles for the purpose of formingadesirable 5 stitches, rib work on a jersey background or vice edge or selvage, and racking a distance equal to versa, and the use of yarns of difierent colors. the distance between two adjacent cylinder It also provides an arrangement for assuring d s s u fl i nt f s pu p s T p m t non-interference between the stitch-forming in-- a desired location of the pattern mechanism i1lus- 1o 'strumentalities (for example, between the needles trated,.the ne dles 5 re in ff t nded by of a dial and cylinder) at a loop-shedding station, providing w e ch of h m wi h a slidin needle in a machine arranged to transfer stitches from jack I3. he pa n m cha m illus ra d is needles of one needle bank to needles of another of a Well kn wn' yl a ap d to C n r e bank. needle, or group of a few adjacent needles, in-

hli Preferably the apparatusisso arranged thatin v l y nd permit the knitting 1 plex 16 addition to doing pattern work, the machine is des ns of very con d ble e ths of epeat. capable of forming edges or selvages and borders B fly, h pattern mechanism consists of (for example a racked edge and broad 'rib border number f Pa e n drums l r bu ed ar nd or cull), and knitting the fabric-in the form of the axis of the machine as indicated in Fig. 1,

20 individual garment-length pieces, which may be a f hese dr c r y a perforated pa 20 joined together into a continuous length by a pattern and being provided with a group oi-levers draw thread'between each two garment-lengths hin and sliding n a cross whi h or something of the same sort. the drums thrust inwardly underneath the needle The accompanying drawings illustrate the prejacks l3 as feeler members find perforations in 25 ferred form of my invention. Fig. 1 is an exthe pa rn c r y he dr ms and thus as 25 tremely diagrammatic plan view of a part of the cams (for example Cams '5, l1 an arried -machine, particularly intended to illustrate the y t s da y am l d 9 p ss ar und th relative location of the pattern-controlling mechmachine, the n l are p je l v y a anism and the cam-controlling mechani Fig, the callv of the pattern sections. The pattern 1 3o 2 is a section thereof adjacent the end or one drum H a e a a ed st by step e or less of the pattern drums. Fig. 3 illustrates diagramn v y by mechanism n t 0 is nmatically the cams that can be-assumed to be dicated mechanism by the op i f the employed in the machine of Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. pattern drums can-be discontinued and started 4 and 5 are elevations of the needles I prefer to in at the call of the machine controller outuse in one of the needle banks, with some positions lined generally at 2| in n which consists 35 of yarn loops indicated th r o Fi 6 i n essentially of a series of vertically movable bob-. elevation of a needle like that of Fig.6 except s, controlled by Pattern of Pap 01 Otherthat it has a shorter butt, Figs. 5 and 6" together Wise, and Wh h also j ts he positions of the being representative of the long and. short butt various a s' s co o l pattern may dic- 40 needles referred to hereinafter. I tate' and as necessary to secure the results desired As appears in Figs. 1 and 2, the circular nut: in any particular fabric. These mechanisms are ting machine illustrated is a rather conventional 80 Well known that the o -d s ription will fbrmof ribi t bed andsubmed z of suflice. Thecam cylinders 8 and 9 and the dial which are supported in son 'nventional man-- cam cap l0 are driven synchronoiisly as will be ner, and carry a fixed slot yllndersand counder each p i'n cy inder I4 is advanced operating dial 4 for sliding latch needles 5 and 6, .8- st p to bring a w call to the feelers of its together with .a rotary'cam cylinder 0 and secondgro p f ve while each of the v rperatyary cam cylinder S-carrying the cams for reing cams .(e. s i i passing the group clprocating the cylinder needles! and'a rotating of needles served by the pattern cylinder ll imdial cam p II for reciprocating the dial needles. mediately in advance; the controller 2| operates 50 Relativel the cylinder needles 5 and dial needles in such a, manner that when any cam is shifted 6 are located asin ordinary rib machines, that is thereby, it is shifted at substantially the position to say with the dial needles working respectively of this controller, and at this position'a few midway between adjacent cylinder. needles. In? needles may be omitted from both the cylinder a conventional manner, the needle dial 4 may be and dial.

m to needles of the other; preferably this is at the needle bank controlled by the pattern mechanism, and preferably the needles 5 are provided with side clips 24 for this purpose of transferring to 'the dial needle 6. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the machine is preferably'provided with at least two feeds A and B and a shedding station T; additional feeds and shedding stations can be provided however; usually I provide one shedding station T for each two feeds, distributing these shedding stations uniformly around the machine.

At each feed I provide one of the pattern cams l1, l8 before mentioned, and also I provide one of these cams I6 at the shedding station so as to be able to obtain selective shedding of the loops from the cylinder needles as theparticular pattern being knitted may require. It will be observed that the shedding station T is angularly displaced from each of the feed s,,that is to say, from each group of devices provided to cause cylinder needles to take yarn, with the result that loops can be selected for shedding entirely independently of the selection of needles to take yarn; for example, a pattern mechanism or pattern mechanisms can be used to control the tak- ,ing of yarn by the needles and to control the transferring or shedding of loops, one entirely independently of the other. At each feed also a stitch cam is provided to retract the cylinder needles and return the raised jacks l3 to their rest positions after the cams l1 and I8 have.

passed. The cams move in thedirection of the arrow 26. At each feed also is. provided at least one stitch cam 21 for the dial needles, and a cam 28 capable of projecting, say, all the dial needles to yam-taking and clearing positions (where the needlelatches are thrust through and beyond the respective loops, so that these old loops will be cast off when the needle is retracte'd by the stitch cam) Preferably too each feed is provided with at least two yarn guides 29 and 30 movable into and out of action alternately under thecontrol of the controller 2|.

1-. 5, thatsrthef cylinder needles pass 5 through this Atthe shedding station, the cylinder needles are provided with a cam or series-of cams 33, 34 and for raising the needles to such a position that the clips 2| are thrust into the loops on these needles, and alsothe dial needles are provided with a cam" or series of cams '36 and 31 whereby the dial needles are thrust out at the proper times into the respective clips 24 of the associated cylinderneedles, so thatfas the cylinder needles are thereafter retraotedby the cylinder cam 38 the corresponding cylinder stitches are transferred to the dial needles.- Ascain 33 at the shedding station serves thereupon to return the dial needles to their rstpositions: The cylindercam system 33-34-35 is so placed however above the normal path of the butts 3-l' and. of the cylinderneedles shedding 5 station. T with i-their' butts in the byerace Al. without being raised by these cams, im-' less given. a--pri or initial raising movement. By

reason of 'this-byeerace 40, no ,needle, or substantially no needle, is raised, at the shedding station, to the same elevation as the dial needlesunless a loop is to be' shed from it;

furthermore by reason of the bye-race all the cylinder needles can be held below the dial needles, as is necessary when racking the dial as mentioned. again hereafter; and still further, when a needle is carriedpp by the cam 33, this needle goes to'a certain definite elevation,

as might not always be the 'case were the byerace 40 omitted and needles permitted to pass the shedding station without transferring by movement of, say, the cam 35 to a lower out-ofaction position. The construction with the byerace 40 therefore assures non-interference between needles 5 and 8 at the shedding station. Also preferably this cam group 33-34-35 is composed of three cams as illustrated, the raising cam 33 being fixed in position, and raising the needles far enough. to clear their loops behind their latches but not high enough to cause 'trans- ,ferring of the stitches, the cam 35 also being fixed in position and being at the transferring position (or carrying the needles the last'step in the transferring operation), and the intermediate cam 34 being movable into and out of operative position, and in operating position spanning the vertical distance between the top of cam 33 and cam 35, so that when in operation cam 34 raises the needles from cam 33 to cam 35 and thereby brings about transferring, but when out of operation permitting the butts 3| and 32 of the cylinder needles to pass from the top of cam 33 direct to the retracting cam 38, that is to say, below the cam 35. As a result, needles passing up the cam 33 when the cam 34 is in operative position, have their loops transferred to the respective dial needles, but needles passing up this raising cam 33 when the cam 34 is in inoperative position, simply have their loops cast off and thus form dropped stitches. At the shedding station T therefore, loops may be shed from the cylinder needles to form a plurality of different kinds of stitches; for example, as described, the transfer stitches and dropped stitches.

The 'pattem mechanism ll, including the needle-raising cam I6 at the shedding station, provides for selectively raising the needles initially to within the path 'of the raising cam 33, and therefore permits the shedding of loops from the cylinder needles selectively and individually. The needle raising cams M 'and retracting cams '42 serve to raise the needles far enough to cause the loops of yarnon the needles to open the needle latches and'then retract the needles to their normal or rest level with the loops still on the needles.

Various other cams (indicated by doubleheaded arrows as movable into and out of operative positions) areshown on the drawings. Assuming for the moment that either these other cams are not present, or are held in their inactive positions, it will be apparent that the mechanismsalready specifically referred to can be used-to do a considerable variety of pattern work. Forexample: 28 are held in inactive, position, and the paper patterns of the pattern mechanism or drums M are so constructed as not to lift needles at the shedding station, a jersey fabric can be knitted If the dial projecting cams needles take yarn at both f-eeds A and B and thus knit a jersey fabric or background on the dial needles, rib stitches can be produced in accordance with a predetermined pattern or design, by using the patterns to control the operation of the cylinder needles at either one or both of these feeds. If for example the desired pattern calls for a repeated rib stitching in any given wale, the cylinder needle knitting this wale is permitted (by the pattern mechanism) to pass along the bye=race 40 at the shedding station; when the rib work on this needle is to be discontinued, the patternmechanism is so perforated that at this time this needle is raised high enough by the cam I 6 for its butt to pass on to the raising cam 33 whence it passes over cam '34 and on to cam 35,

and thereby its last stitch is transferred to the.

adjacent dial needle. Again, an eyelet stitch can be made at a selected point in jersey fabric by using the pattern mechanism M to cause a needle at this point to rise and take yarn at feed B and immediately pass above the cam at the shedding station so as to shed this yarn on to a dial needle; two (or more) loops can be gathered on a cylinder needle and shed or transferred on to a dial needle to form a larger eyelet, by causing the same needle to take yarn at two or more passes of a feed or feeds over it, before transferring. Particularly for these larger eyelets, I prefer to make the pattern or lever cams at the feeds (e. g., cams l1 and I8) adjustable totwo positions, namely, to a higher position where they cause their selected needles to be raised to a clearing height, and to a lower position where they raise their needles to tucking position, i. e., to a position high enough to take yarn from the passing yarn guide, but not high enough to clear their latches through any loops that may be hanging on those needles. This obviously increases the that when in operating position it projects both the long butt needles and the short butt needles of the cylinder to clearing and yam-taking posi-' tion. By the use of cams 28 and 46 therefore, (the pattern mechanism being held out of operation) plain 1:1 rib fabric can be made, the cylin-.

der needles passing the shedding station by way than the cams 28 and 46 respectively) asto project only-the high butt needles; the cams 46 are preferably movable into and out of operating position (as well as cams 28) so as to permit the range of patterning or fancy effects that can be knitted. Still further, dropped stitches can'be produced at desired places in jersey fabric knitted on the .dial needles, by withdrawingthe cam 34 from action at the transfer section, and using the pattern mechanism-to cause the appropriate discontinuance of knitting on the dial needles at either or both feeds at will (for example, to permit racking, or the knitting of a French welt or the like), and also the cylinder cams 44 (as well as 46) are mounted for movement out of operatmg position both for the same purposes and also. v

to permit the use of the pattemmechanism on the cylinder needles as before described. To knit a broad rib therefore, the cams 46'and 44. are placed in operative position (cams 28 and 46 are held in-inoperative position and likewise the pattern mechanism is held inoperative), with the result that only the long butt needles of the two banks knit; as with the knitting of 1:1 rib, the 4 cylinder needles pass the shedding station by way of the bye-race, so that as many rounds of broad rib may be knitted successively as desired;

Preferably I.provide a gate cam 41 which is normally held in inoperative position, but when raised to its dotted line position in Fig. 3 will serve to cause all the cylinder needles to pass on to cylinder needles to take yam at one or all the feeds, and also pass above the cam- 33, whereat the loop or loops is or are cleared below the needle latches. but are shed or .cast off the needles without transferring to dial needles inasmuch as the absence of cam 34 permits these needles to pass below rather than above the cam.

As before indicated, I prefer to so construct the machine that edges-or selvages, and borders of broad rib, and also unpatterned plain fabric can be made without using the pattem'mechanlsm 4,

etc., for this purpose, that is to say, by the use of cams alone, the pattern mechanism being'held temporarily out of action, say by the use of the mechanism 28, previously referred to, for taking the patternmechanism out of action at the proper time and restoring it to action again when needed for pattern work. To this-end, I provide some of the needles with long butts (such as 3|, Fig. 5) and the remainder with short butts (such as 32,4ig. 6), and I provide cams individually.

the cam 33. This cam is useful particularly whenever it is desired to transfer all cylinder stitches there may be on to dial needles.

As before explained, the cam 34 when moved to inoperative position, permits all needles passing over the cam 33 to cast off their stitches without transferring those stitches to dial needles. 'By withdrawing this cam 34 from operating position therefore and holding cam*4| in its dotted line position in Fig. '3, all cylinder stitches can be cast of! in a single rotation of the cam cylinder. A cam 48 on the dial, normally held in inoperative position, is movable into a position to project all the dial needles to clearing position at a pointwhere they take no yarn, with the result that when in action all the dial needles cast off their chine to knit 1:1 rib fabric, to knit French welt,

and to cast off all stitches from the dial needles and all stitches from the cylinder needles, inde-.

needles,- it will beunderstood by those skilled in pendently (allthe movable cams being movableinto andout of action by the controller .2l independently of each other), as well as rack at least the distance between two adjacent cylinder the art that'a racked edge or selvage can be produced. When knitting a-broad rib it is usually desirable to retract the dial needles earlier than when knitting a 1:1 rib. For this reason I usually provide the dial with additional stitch cams 58 movable into and out of bperating position.

In order to hold the cylinder needles projected with certainty during the knitting of certain of the plain fabrics, I prefer to provide the cylinder cams 5! for this purpose, these simply holding elevated needles that have been raised by the I raising cams in advance of them. These cams 5| 5 can be moved downwardly out of operating position however so as not to interfere with the operations of knitting broad rib and knitting pattern work.

I prefer to move the cam 34 into and out of 1 operation by movement at right angles to the cylinder needles. The other cams adjustable in position can well be moved in directions parallel to their needles, as indicated by the doubleheaded arrows on those cams in Fig. 3. Various l mechanisms for adjusting cams to various 'posi tions under the control of such controllers as 2| of Fig. 1 are well known,' and various of these mechanisms can be used with this machine. A

plate 52 carried by the cam cylinder or dial cam an cap at the shedding station, serves to ride on the loops of the cylinder needles as those needles rise to transfer, and thus help to hold those loops from rising unduly highwith their needles. In-

asmuch as cylinder needles that transfer loops 2! to dial needles have no loops to assure their latches being closed as they are retracted, I prefer to provide a latch closer in the form of a plate or member 54, carried say by the cam cylinder, to pass underneath opened cylinder needle my invention, and various forms of transferring.

needles with clips such as pointed to by 5 and 24 are known. Preferably however I employ the form of needle and clip illustrated particularly in Figs. 4 and 5 and the specific operation thereof indicated by the camming at the shedding sta-- tion in Fig. 3. This needle illustrated is provided with a slot or depression 55 into which the upper pointed end 56 of the clip normally lies, so that this end 56 of the clip readily passes into the loop 51 hanging on the needle as the needle is raised toward transferring position. Preferably also the forward edge of the needle is provided with a forwardly extending inclined projection 58, be-

ginning at a point on the needle rather well above the end 56 of the clip, and accordingly which serves to draw out the loop 51 in a direction directly away from the edge of the fabric prior to the entry of the end 56 of the clip 24 into the loop.

55 From the upper end 56 of the clip downwardly, this projection 56 retreats toward the back of the needle as it were (see Fig. 5) so that as the needle rises through the loop and the clip 2| carries the loop end still further forward, the leg 59 of the 60 loop- 51 is allowed more and more to take a diagonal direction from near the back edge of the needle to the forward edge of the clip 24, so that as the horizontal shoulder 60 on the forward part of the needle, and the adjacent indentation 6| on 05 the forward edge of the clip, come to the loop 51, i the loop has been swung rather sidewise as it were (Fig. 4) rather than entirely expanded by reason of its passage over the clip 24, so that the mini- A mum amount of tension has been put on the loop by its passage on to the clip 24, and the opposite leg 62 ofthe loop now extends downwardly so that a dial needle 6 can be thrust far enough out to pass cits hooked end over this leg 62 with certainty. The operation of transferring therefore,

with this new needle, is, substantially, to raise .6. The subject matter of claim 1,

. dial needle 6 that is to receive the stitch or loop the needle} to a height where the stitch rests on the shoulder 60 (Figs. 4 and 5, this is the needle position on the forward portion of the cam 35, Fig. 3), then project outwardly the cooperating to place its hook end above the leg 62 of the loop but not necessarily underneath the cross bar 63 of the loop (Figs.'4 and 5, this movement is caused by the cam 36, Fig. 3), then raise the cylinder needle 5 slightly higher soas to place the cross bar 63 of the loop well above the level of the dial needle (this slight upward movement of the cylinder needles is caused by the part 64 of cam 35, Fig. 3)., and while the cylinder needle is held in this highest position, moving the dial needle forward another step to place its hook underneath and outside of the cross bar 63 of the loop (this movement being secured by the cam 31, Fig. 3). The transferring is then completed by retracting the cylinder needle (by cam 38,- Fig. 3) which leaves the loop on the dial needle as will'be understood, and after the end of the cylinder needle has passed below the dial needle, the operation is complete and the dial needle may be retracted to its rest position. This form of needle and clip,

- and this mode of transferring, secures transference with less breakage of the yarn and greater certainty of transferring than any other form of transferring with which I am familiar.

It will be understood of course that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, except as appears hereinafter in the claims.

I claim:

1. In-a knitting machine, a yarn feeder, a bank of needles, means to causesaid needles to knit at said yarn feeder. a second cooperating bank of needles, means to cause the needles of said second bankto take and omit taking yarn at said yarn feeder selectively, and means to cause those needles of said second bank which take yarn to shed their loops selectively at a point angularly displaced from said means which causes the needles of said second bank totake yarn and where no yarn is fed to the needles of said second bank.

2. A knitting machine according to claim l, wherein the shedding means include means to shed loops from needles of said second bank onto other needles.

3. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that said shedding means includes meansto shed loops from the needles of said second bank onto needles of said first bank.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that said shedding means includes a cam to control needles of the second bank in transferring loops to needles of'the first mentioned bank, and a race is provided around said cam through which the needles of the second mentioned bank can travel without shedding loops that are upon them.

5. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact that said shedding means includes a cam to control needles of the. second bank in transferring loops to needles of the first mentioned bank, and a race is provided around said cam through which the needles of the second mentioned bank can travel without shedding loops that are upon them, and said means to cause needles of said second bank to take yarn causes said needles to clear any loop that may be on them at the time.

characteru,

bed by the mt that said shedding means in cludes a cm to control needles of the secondbank in transferring loops to needles of the first mentioned bank, and a race is provided around said cam through which the needles of the second mentioned bank can travel without shedding loom that are upon them, and said means tocause needlesofsaidsecond banktotakeyarn causes said needles to clear any loop that may be on them at the time, or, alternately at will,

retain a plurality of yarns in their hooks.

7.Inacircularknittingmachine,aphirality of yarn feeders, a circular bank of needles, means to cause said needles to knit at all said yarn feeders, a second and cooperating bank of needles, means to cause the needles of said secondbanktotakeandomittakingyarnselectively at said plurality of yarn feeders, and means, behind said plurality of yarn feeders and angularlv displaced from said means causing needles of the second bank to take yarn, to cause selected ones of those needles of said second bankv which have taken yarn to shed their loops at a point where no yarn'is fed to 5 the needles of said second bank.

8. The subject matter of claim 7, characterized by the fact that said sheddins means includes means to cause loops shed by needles of the second bank'to be shed onto needles of the first mentioned bank.

9. The subject matter of claim "I, characterized by the fact that said shedding means includes means to cause loops shed by needles of the second bank to be shed onto needles of the first mentioned bank, and means are pro--' videdtocauseyarntaken ontheneedlesofsaid second bank to form knit stitches.

10. The subject matter of claim 7, characterized by the fact that said shedding means 111-- 40 eludes means to cause loops shed by needles of -ond bank to form knit stitches, or. alternately at will, take a plurality of yarns in their hooks 5.

' without casting oil.

11. In a circular knittinz machineya plurality of cooperating banks of needles, a plurality of yarn guides, means to cause the needles of one of said banb to knit from said plurality 10 of yarn guides, means to cause needles of the. other bank to take and omit taking yarn selectively from said yarn miides, a transfer cam means, angularly displaced from said -me'ans which causes needles of said other bank to take is yarn, and means to selectively move needles of said other bank which have taken yarn, into the path of said transfer cam means.

12. The subject matter of claim 11,-character- -ized by the fact that said transfer cam means.

includes a cam to project needles from clearing position towards transfer position, said cam being movable out of active position at will to permit needles to clear without transferrin: their loops.

13, The subject matterjof claim 11, characterised by the fact that means are provided to causeneedlesofsaidotherbanktakingyarntc move to clearing position and thereafter cast-oil.

14. The subject matter of claim 11, character- 'izedbythefactthatmeansareprovldedtocause needles of said other bank taking yarn to move to clearing position and thereafter cast-off, or, alternately at will, to take yarn'without clearing.

15. The subject :matter of claim 11, in coma bination with cam means, movable intoand out of operating position. to cause all the needles ofsaidotherbanktomoveinto thepath of said transfer cam means.

muossmmr. 

